The present invention relates generally to a puncture, pierce and cut resistant fabric. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fabric with the aforementioned characteristics that also has outer surface or layer with properties tailored to specific applications such as being more wear resistant or having a higher friction coefficient to resist slippage when the fabric is in contact with an article.
Various forms of protective fabrics have been advanced and used to form protective garments such as gloves, aprons and arm guards and the like. Besides providing protective functions such as cut and puncture resistance, the fabric material may also have to be flexible, durable, resist abrasion or improve or allow the gripping or holding of objects.
Many forms of protective garments have utilized fabrics made from woven or non-woven forms of fibers and yarns. Some commonly used fibers include cellulose (cotton), polyester, nylon, aramid (KEVLAR), acrylic and Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (Spectra). Nevertheless, it is often difficult to achieve all the desired performance characteristics in a protective fabric for a specific application when fibers are used to form the protective fabric. For example, an aramid fabric has high tensile strength and is ballistic resistant, but the fabric is nevertheless weak against abrasion, degrades upon exposure to sunlight, and offers little puncture resistance against sharp, needle-like objects. As another example, fabrics made of nylon are strong and have good abrasion resistance, but the nylon fabric has low cut resistance against sharp edges as well has poor thermal and chemical (particularly acid) stability. In general, comprises usually have to be made when using a pure fabric, especially in high-performance fabric applications.
Recently, a new fabric design that integrates a fabric substrate with rigid, disconnected platelets or guard plates has been advanced by HDR, Inc. of St. Paul, Minn. and distributed under the trademark SuperFabric®. Generally, this fabric design includes a plurality of guard plates that are thin and formed of a substance chosen to resist a penetration force equivalent to that exerted by a cutting force of the level and type for which the fabric is to be used and for which it is designed. In a very convenient embodiment, a polymer resin is used as the material forming the guard plates. The resin can be printed on the fabric substrate in a design that thereby forms spaced-apart guard plates. The resin penetrates into the fabric substrate and when cured, forms a strong bond therewith. The composite nature of the fabric makes it possible to realize locally (in an area comprising one or a few guard plates) hard, puncture and cut resistant plate features. However, at the same time, the fabric exhibits global softness and flexibility due to the flexibility of the fabric substrate and the spaced apart relationship of the guard plates.
Although the guard plates are particularly hard and thereby resist puncture, fracture, or cutting, and when bonded to the fabric substrate, resist separation and prevent puncture or cutting between the guard plates, the characteristics that provide these features may not be entirely suitable for all applications. For instance, some applications may require a higher degree of wear resistance, while others require a tactile surface that improves grip. Accordingly, there exists a desire to address the needs of these applications.